ones where in florida, where he was facing newt gingrich, facing mortal distinction and by being aggressive and strong and tough he was able to back gingrich down. i think they're more likely to go that direction than to go stately and formal. chris: i was thinking that have movey, "presumed innocent" where harrison ford's character is told, you have to point at that guy and say, he did it. can romney be that strong? do you think that could be coming? >> he has to take a part -- apart some of the things his campaign has been trying to say. that might appeal to those voters who have not been thrilled with the president but have not been converted to romney voters yet. you're going to hear a lot of i think a distilled theme of the country can't afford another four years of the last four years. they know that this is the biggest audience he will have had. the republican convention was important but this is much bigger. and will voters get a chance to see him without some of the care contour? the aggression -- caricature? the aggression, he's got to really sort of have a carefree sen

. >> sean: coming up next, now that she is not on the campaign trail, calista gingrich is going to make sure that thrn -- children actually know about american history. next. [ male announcer ] this is the land of giants. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. >> sean: adequate back to "hannity." close to gingrich's heart in the primaries, she is working just as diligently to insure that our children n.o.w. know how our children understand how this country was formed and has written a new book. joining us, calista gingrich, "land of the pilgrims' pride." you miss the campaign trail and the fun and the debates? you would be waiting for wednesday night? >> that's right. but i have moved on to ellis, the elephant. >> sean: you know what is amazing. doit man-on-the-street interviews. on the 4th of july, every year. i ask people, who's the 4th of july? independence day. independence from who? most people cannot answer that question. >> it is a tragedy that many of our stu

have this hard core opposition as clinton did with newt gingrich. and then people say maybe he'll unleash in the second term. i think people are concerned with obama as well, who is the real obama. >> eliot: yeah. but we do know that mitt romney is being sunk but his apparently feelty to the far right. and david stockman said this guy is a joker. >> that's right. they look at romney and say this is too far. the right has gone to an extreme that we never would have envisioned or endorsed and the country cannot sustain. this deep of cut to the social net and economic engine will spell chaos. >> eliot: part of the reason for this is there is this huge chasm when the imagery of ronald reagan and the reality of how he governed. the article is titled "who is driving mitt," eric bates, executive editor of "rollingstone" magazine, thank you for time you tonight. >> thank you. >> eliot: and we'll show you every clumsy thing mitt romney ever did. it's in the viewfinder coming up next. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit

next, now that she is not on the campaign trail, calista gingrich is going to make sure that thrn -- children actually know about american history. next. gecko (clearing throat) thank you, mr. speaker, uh, members of congress. in celebration of over 75 years of our government employees insurance company, or geico...as most of you know it. ...i propose savings for everyone! i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newcaster: breaking news. the gecko is demanding free pudding. and political parties that are actual parties! with cake! and presents! ah, that was good. too bad nobody could hear me. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. like in a special ops mission? you'd spot movement, gather intelligence with minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, yoargeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you

old times, guess what? wt gingrich has harsh words for the romney campai. our political panel joins me next. rshioup oe day today, it's a lot of -- i don't know how much they're hanging out in the white house today. it's virginia. back and forth. a quick pick me up, they can ve white chicken chili. we need more likes andpokes. re wche y rundown" only on msnbc. >> time for "your biness" entrepreneur of the week. anew ithe urth genatio owner of rosenwach tanks. he says you don't throw out what works. you st build upon it. for more, watch "your biness" this suny moin 7:3on this suny moin 7:3on nbc. [ ross ] we are in the dades gorge, we're going down? haoun rd ♪ there is no relief for the brakes. we'll put them to the test today. all right, let's move out! [ ross ] we're pushing the ats brakes to the limit. going as fast as we can down the hill. we are making these sharp turns, slamming on the brembo brakes. this is the challenge, machine vs. mountain. [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world.

. one could easily say newt gingrich made a mighty contribution to reelecting bill clinton. in 1996 by giving him a welfare bill that he was surprised to discover that clinton would sign. it may be the weakness of the candidacy would have doomed to regardless but in many ways the election was over. that kennedy embrace so-called welfare reform and republican legislation that was passed. what we learned in american politics was americans fixate on the president and blame warm praise the president for what ever happens. congress gets very little credit or more to the point of a presidential candidate of the opposition congress that works well with a president gets very little credit for their good sportsmanship. what they do is to re-elect the incumbent president. one cannot blame mitch mcconnell for does siring not to re-elect a democratic president. what one can blame is the flavors in 1787 and others to fail to recognize the implications of developing a basically parliamentary party structure in a system of so-called checks and balances that was designed for ruled by a virtuous pub

week, it was newt gingrich offering some advice to romney's messaging strategy, telling him how to disarm president obama. we've heard from peggy noonan a couple of times now. how is the campaign reacting to all of this inside chatter? or are they? >> this is a constant irritation for the campaign. they feel like every donor, every republican who lost in a primary, and frankly, every reporter, thinks they know how to run a better campaign than they do. they wish that they could do our -- or they say they wish they could do our jobs too to give us an idea of the difference. they try to brush these things off. the campaign has its own staffers who help manage, especially the conservative media, reach out to try to keep things like that happy. but they undercut their conservative message when you say things like romney did to ron allen in ohio, they continue to undercut their ability to turn the page with conservative commentators. >> i always like getting your perspective on this next question, because you spend more time with governor romney than just about anything, with the except

republicans newt gingrich would be the nominee. hugo, i will call your attention -- >> liberal media. >> new york times hugo lingren, this i think is really -- i like this because it references stink bombs also. the ap quoting michael mcdonald of george mason university which tracks early voting saying if you wait until the election prior to the election to release your stink bomb you've lost coloradans. if you've got the game changer you have to do that soon. >> i agree with that. look, the romney campaign if they could buy time they would be buying it. i don't know what they want to make the most of this last push. it's hard to see -- i mean i think the debates will be interesting for the exact matter that something unexpected has to happen to really change the race for romney. it's hard to imagine -- it's hard to imagine obama going in there and doing a terrible job. it's possible. sort of equally impossible to imagine romney doing such an outstanding job, so different than we've ever expected that would also make a difference and yet, that's what he really has to go for. >> you s

to the web and looked up what newt gingrich was talking about. >> another question -- recently, one of mitt romney's operatives made the statement to reporters when they were pushing him on the claim about welfare. we will keep running that, we will not have our campaign did but -- dictated by fact checkers. probably a lot of news people were shocked by the cynicism they heard coming out of his mouth. jim, you have been around the longest -- did this surprise you? >> i really cannot say that i was. they had kind of behave that way all along. they were certainly not terribly worried enough to change the rhetoric when something is pointed out to them. >> you mean the romney campaign? >> yes. i do not see a lot of evidence of trimming statements back to make a more accurate when they are repeated -- >> i do not know about that. this is -- my take on this, in the context of that question and answer, they were saying that this is the most effective ad. they said, that got four pinocchios. the response was, we are not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers. what he means b

gingrich offering president obama some unsolicited advice. meanwhile the obama and romney campaigns are managing expectations. even the most ardent democrat would admit that president obama isn't the best debater. but according to beth myers . . . >> jennifer: and then president obama's top political advisor is just as glowing about mitt romney . . . they are so funny, my opponent he is abe lincoln and daniel webster all rolled into one. isn't that kind of weird hearing the campaign say such nice things about their opponents? believe me it's not going to last and it's all part of managing expectations before the debate. for more i'm joined by one of the country's foremost experts on the subject. samuel popkin who is a professor of political science at the university of san diego. he has worked on campaigns going back to the 1970s, and he is also the author of "the candidate." welcome back inside "the war room," profez or. >> it's a pleasure to be back with you governor. >> jennifer: all right. do you think this has been taken to a new level this year? >> i think it has been taken to a n

served as chief of staff in newt gingrich's presidential campaign. patrick, you say newt gingrich's famous pious baloney line was one of his strongest hits against mitt romney during the primary debates. i want to play that for our viewers who don't remember. take a look. >> can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney? the fact is you ran in '94 and lost. that's why you -- this idea that suddenly citizenship showed up in your mind, just level with the american people. you've been running for at least since the 1990s. >> i'm curious how much of those kind of zingers are prethought out and what does mitt romney have to do to avoid taking a big hit tomorrow night? >> well, that was all newt and part of the great thing about newt is that he knew the topic, you knew the weak points, but he was prepared to answer the question and then if you can come up with pious baloney, then that just puts a cherry on top. interestingly enough, if you googled baloney two hours after that debate you would get oscar mayer and newt gingrich. romney has the same opportunity, especially when it comes to o

manhandled newt gingrich in florida. he showed he was capable of doing it. he was totally capable of doing it. megyn: we talked about this earlier, chris. mitt romney did very well in that one debate against newt gingrich, then he fired that debate coach. >> debate coaches -- the -- what he has to do is attack president obama. don't worry when the punditry says it was too mean or shallow or short on specifics. they always say that. he's got to launch an attack on president obama. he has got to weather the storm when the press says, oh, you are doing it wrong, we don't like what you are doing. so romney has to attack, attack, attack, then use that time in front of those viewers to lay out three simple points about what he wants to do. hit hard, keep it simple and get out of town. >> i want to point out the attack, attack, attack. there this what is we are defending this week in the press about character assassination. we need simple messaging. no singing. no jokes. it will be a different debate. he's not debating rick perry. megyn: newt gingrich was no easy sparring partner, and michele bachma

wrong with that. newt gingrich called it vulture capital lic capitalism. it's looking at a way of creating jobs, being a stake holder in the community and thinking about the long run. that's not what you're look at. mitt romney was just talking the jargon of someone who does private equity and it's just not -- at the same time, though, in the last year he's told us that he can create jobs and knows the economy better because of his bain cap pal experience. >> but michelle, let me ask you, harvest companies -- buy companies and harvest them, where can you even find the most generous stretch you can, find job creation? >> it is unfortunate imagery and it's a rarafied field and this is the downside to the way romney has made his entire campaign, kind of a referendum on obama' private sector experience, he talks up a good game, you know, kind of inflating what any president would be able to do on the job creation front. so, you know, you run across something like this and of course people are going to jump on it because romney himself has made job creation and his ability to do that c

knockout punch to newt gingrich and to rick perry, he managed to do it, and he did it very aggressively. so he knows what he's doing up there. obama needs to be on his toes. you know, i just think he can anticipate most of what romney is going to say, but he needs to have a few zingers of his own to make sure he gets his share of sound bites in the newscasts that follow. >> based on previous debate performances, how would you characterize governor romney's style versus the president's style? >> romney is good on the attack, i think. as i just indicated, i mean, when he needed to flash the knife against rick perry in that one debate i'm particularly thinking of, he really did it. he's good at that, and he's not going to back down. you know, a lot of this also comes down to interpersonal dynamics and how they play off each other and what their body chemistry says and so on and so forth. romney was pretty aggressive in a lot of republican debates, interrupting people, leaning forward, that sort of thing. don't think you can do that with the president of the united states. >> there was also

something that newt gingrich said this morning on "morning joe." mark, let me play that. >> everybody i talk to agrees he's had two and a half very tough weeks, and i do agree. i think they started with the clinton speech, and then they got compoundeded by all the ot stuff that happened. the person in the cross hairs in the next ten days is mitt romney. >> let me ask you about your thought of where the campaign is right now, and if he's in the cross hairs feeling the heat, is he the kind of guy that stomach bems and withers, or is he the candidate to take that as i'm hitting rock bottom and i'm going to start to climb up? >> well, i mean, mitt romney has shown a lot of resolve through the primaries, and he bounced back from a lot of bad periods. i remember well in september of 2000 we called it black september and we were down 3 to 5 points. it wasn't until the dethe baits we turned things around. there's opportunity here for sure, but what the romney campaign has to do, which is sort of what charles krauthhammer is saying is start to talk about policy and go big. >> how does do that?

the tea party folks, from people like jim demint, from newt gingrich, rick santorum, as if those guys hadn't done enough for the republican party already this yeary forcing romney way to the right. but this is a really hard aclly rubns t ically and make. first, it's going to cost a lot of money if they go back in. they canceled all the air time. to buy the spots now would cost five or six times more than the money that they already had there in the first place. secondly, it's not politically good for the republican party or r mine for their senate and house candidates to be associated in any way with this guy. they already have a huge gender gap. look, he didn't op out. the voters are going to drop him in november and maybe fury will tell me he disseptembers from this, and i'm sure he does, but privately a lot of repubns ll t g't win. >> the news here today, you referred to how he referred to this -- this is todd akin -- how he referred to his democratic opponent, the incumbent senator claire mccaskill. let's look at this, whateai today and why it may be a problem for him. he sai

dots on these judicial vacancies. just like old times, guess what? newt gingrich has harsh words for the romney campaign. our political panel joins me next. first, white house soup of the day today, it's a lot of -- i don't know how much they're hanging out in the white house today. it's virginia. back and forth. a quick pick me up, they can have white chicken chili. we need more likes and pokes. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. >> time for "your business" entrepreneur of the week. andrew is the fourth generation owner of rosenwach tanks. he says you don't throw out what works. you just build upon it. for more, watch "your business" this sunday morning at 7:30 on msnbc. [ ross ] we are in the dades gorge, high up in the atlas mountains of morocco. have you seen this road we're going down? ♪ there is no relief for the brakes. we'll put them to the test today. all right, let's move out! [ ross ] we're pushing the ats brakes to the limit. going as fast as we can down the hill. we are making these sharp turns, slamming on the brembo brakes. [ derek ] it's like instant

debates, not all of them. but in florida he took newt gingrich out. newt gingrich no slouch at debating or intellect for that matter. and then later on he took out rick santorum. it's like he had a machete in his hand and he knocked these guys down. is it possible he might do the same thing about president obama who is rusty, has not had a debate and has had people fawning over him for four years? >> i don't think he's rusty because he spent a lot of time campaigning and what a lot of people don't see usually from the mainstream media is how he performs in his campaign stops as well as town hall meetings. i don't think you're going to see any rust on mitt romney. i'm very optimist being aboic a he's going to do tonight. >> let's go back to our distinguished kudlow caucus. you say the teleprompter has gone nuts. we don't need that. what do you expect obama to do tonight? he's going to come at romney. he's a very gifted orator. where do you think he'll start? i want rom anyway ni ney to com aggressive. will obama come out aggressive? >> no, i don't think he'll come out aggressive

last year. you had mitt romney and newt gingrich agree we needed immigration reform. what about the border effect that there were having this conversation. it was completely ignored. mayor ronnie gave a speech -- mitt romney gave a speech. this is an utterly marginal issue. it has more skilled immigration than you do less. this is not mean any kind of changes. it is also true that the immigration debate is framed in some ways and others by others. i guess i see these emergence strategies versus ... strategies. when you're talking about a party. you have this large number of non-college educated white voters. these folks are facing these economic structural changes. they have anxieties that flow from that. in 2004, you won a lot of these voters. suddenly you are counting social security reform. that is something that democrats capitalize on effectively in 2005. on the other hand you look at the affordable care act. what happened? you have this republican party where they recognize a lot of our voters are older. a lot have anxiety. there is this an emerging strategy in which you have

was running as rick perry, rick santorum and newt gingrich. >> we are talking about what the republicans should do but democrats have become more assertive and to this id to predict consumer conservative in this issue. -- assertive in this issue. what the barack obama do this here? he leaned into the issue. he defied those saying we are going to lose downscale white voters if you do this. he did it anyway. the response was quite remarkable. and lead to an uptick among hispanics. lots of praise for a progresses. a put republicans on the defensive. republicans have not only painted themselves into a corner on this but democrats are learning how to take advantage of that. parks downscale whites -- >> downscale whites have not been that alienated from obama. if obama gets elected, the of the large deficit among what -- among young white working-class waters -- workers. how do you keep them down on the farm? they said they need a vision of activist government. how can the republicans consolidate them? this is up for grabs. >> if obama wins, it is almost certain his nine college wi

he's campaigning, like everything is a joke, but it's quite serious. when i met gingrich i said i hope the election is not lost by the republicans on the color line. it seems like it's almost over although i wish him well. host: an independent scholar, ann in virginia. caller: i will be watching, definitely. in fact, it's probably going to be the highest watched debates ever, just because people are anxious to see what mitt romney will talk about, because he has gone this far and it feels to me like his campaign has been i am not barack obama. we want to hear specifics. i am just concerned and his approach. i just want to see what it's going to be. i voted for the president the last election even though i am independent. there's a lot about the republican platform, the party platform that i agree with and there's a lot about the democratic party platform i don't agree with. but when it comes to leadership, it has been really embarrassing to watch mitt romney. it is just sad. so this will be his chance. peter he will pull it off or not. i am not going to vote for him just because o

themselves. instead, they called the pro- romney, the pro-obama, the pro- gingrich super pac. they talked about and that way. in doing that they increase the accountability of the benefit to canada for the content. they did this in questions in the debate. it was important. it happened in print as well. as of the journalistic community somehow thought -- agreed, and now there is no group that just agrees to these things, that the public would be deceived if he picked up names such as priorities usa, restore our future, as if they had some meaning, and given legitimacy in the process. that translation, which we continue to see when there is talk about third parties, i think it performs an important journalistic function as we try to at least figure out who benefits from this. >> kendall. -- ken doyle. is there any legal obligation or ethical obligation of the people who are running the ads -- running the tv stations running the ads they are receiving, receiving the money, should they be trying to find out at all who is actually paying to air these ads, or in forming their viewers anything

american values and newt gingrich are at the center for american progress. i want to thank you for joining us. for the past, rogue demographics, economics and voter registration, voter ideology in the 2012 election. and i want to wish you all paid happy voter registration day. i'm sure everyone in this room s registered to vote. this is being cohosted by two fantastic teams. if we are just a few weeks before the election and i know that may seem like a very short time but in politics it's a lifetime. we were interested in taking down into what is actually happening in the states. what trends were occurring, how do people feel about economy and the current state of affairs, and most importantly who are the people who actually show up at the polls in november. we wanted to have a follow-up discussion about economics, demographics and implications for 2012. this is a follow up to the practice released in november of last you. .co office wanted to see what a change in the past year and what, if anything, it would mean for the presidential election. so with that kind pleased to introduc

republicans are in trouble. >> yes, you are. why don't we talk about newt gingrich trying to keep todd akin on the campaign trail. you want to go there? >> i'd rather talk about what's really relevt, and that is the facthat i guess, what, a couple wksgo-ri to sound the warning. >> mm-hmm. >> like a fireman, you know, you're kicking down the door and the house on fire. and i'm yelling at people in the bed, "get out! get out!" save yourself. and they were all screaming at me. why are you so negative, you rho? >> w ld o >> no, but the thing is -- and there's a great "wall street journal" piece. and i said this over the weekend on "meet the press." you know, poor bay buchanan was doing what poor bay bucnan had to do. mp weveohe to prop u t romy romney campaign are saying horrible things about how bad the campaign's going behind the scenes. you know, talking about "the wall street journal" and the fact that laura ingram's had legitite conces anrush yo gnhe concerns. this is not an ideological campaign, it's not a conservative campaign. not conservatives because the conservatives that a

had gone to the web and looked up what newt gingrich was talking about. >> another question -- recently, one of mitt romney's operatives made the statement to reporters when they were pushing him on the claim about welfare. we will keep running that, we will not have our campaign did but -- dictated by fact checkers. probably a lot of news people were shocked by the cynicism they heard coming out of his mouth. jim, you have been around the longest -- did this surprise you? >> i really cannot say that i was. they had kind of behave that way all along. they were certainly not terribly worried enough to change the rhetoric when something is pointed out to them. >> you mean the romney campaign? >> yes. i do not see a lot of evidence of trimming statements back to make a more accurate when they are repeated -- >> i do not know about that. this is -- my take on this, in the context of that question and answer, they were saying that this is the most effective ad. they said, that got four pinocchios. the response was, we are not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers

aiken. >> republicans turn to newt gingrich to try to save todd aiken in missouri and save the senate. howard fineman has the latest. >> it turns out he stacked the crowd with supporters. it's not the first time. >> i do love that music. i have to tell you. >> good to have you with us tonight. thanks for watching. mitt romney tried to create a distraction from his 47% comments. instead he gave himself more headaches. friday afternoon the romney campaign released the 2011 tax returns. the romneys paid 14.1% and would have paid an even lower rate if they took all of their deductions. the tax returns put the focus back on the issue of tax fairness in america. romney was asked about his tax rate during an interview with "60 minutes." >> is that fair to the guy who makes $50,000 and paid a higher rate than you did? >> it is a low rate. one of the reasons why the capital gains tax rate is lower is because capital has already been taxed once at the corporate level. as high as 35%. >> so you think it is fair? >> yeah, i think it's the right way to encourage economic growth to get people to in

whichever republican including mitt romney wants him to do. so why was newt gingrich at todd akin's side today urging him to stay in. newt can't stop making trouble for mitt. that's coming up. i'm so g lad you called. thank you. we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here'sour temporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. >>> mitt romney's latest idea for medical care for the uninsured puts him in conflict with mitt romney. mitt versus mitt is coming up next. and later it's mitt versus newt. >> does the government have a we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... a

. take a look at this little change with newt gingrich in florida in january. >> speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them, to influence other people throughout washington, encouraging them not to dismantle these two entities. i think that was an enormous mistake. >> so he did it with a nice tone, said newt gingrich made an enormous mistake. i think that was a good way of romney pointing out the differences. what he does, though, is when he's in moment when there's a really candid exchange and he's not sure what to say, he can really look awkward. remember this? i bet you do. >> you were for individual mandate, my friend. >> you know what, you've raised that before, rick. and you're wrong -- >> it was true then, true now. >> rick, i'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> that became a real problem for mitt romney because it only fed into the narrative that he doesn't care about your problems, he's rich and out of touch. if you bet $10,000, not such a good idea. >> that was a little awkward. >> it was a bad moment for him. and that happens to him when he's

] [ woman ] reverend? can i have some? ♪ >>> remember way back a few months agohen newt gingrich when mitt romney would say mitt bar against president strous obama? now he thinks he has the winning advice. be funny and insult the media. it always worked for newt. jonathan cape heart and ari mel ber are already laughing aut at o ay ne next. and in the rewrite toint, honey boo-boo and i will teach paul ryan and mitt romney something about family values. and we'll show you why they must lie when they talk about their oppoon to marrge equality atomup one serving of cereal, a baseball. and one serving of fruit, a tennis ball. - you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. degn the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our wer billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term

gingrich in 1997, and eat a balanced budget. it got the job done. the balanced the budget. we were paying off debt. the unemployment rate was going down. other than that it did not work. i did not like the welfare bill, because it did not provide the kind of child care support that we needed to provide, and became in in 1997 and did it. i did not require -- i did not oppose people of the kind to have to work. i do not disagree with that position at all. to say that i have opposed spending cuts is inaccurate. i was governor in 1983 when we were in recession. week lowered the tax on food as a consequence of a significant effort by the legislature. it was every interest group in the state that lined up. spend more money here, there. we held the line. in this campaign, i have endorsed republican proposals to cut spending, by conservative senator from oklahoma tom coburn. us on the way to do it. >> you have 30 seconds. >> this piece of legislation was a signature achievement of president clinton. it was a vote against cutting spending. he did not cut spending than. i do not know if you

people have gone to the web and looked up what newt gingrich was talking about. spent another question. recently one of mitt romney's operatives made a statement to reporters when they're pushing him on the claim about, well, it's our most effective at and we're not going to have our campaign dictated by fact checkers. i think a lot of probably naÏve news editors were rather shocked at the cynicism that they heard coming out of this polltakers mouth. so my question, you've been around the longest, were you shocked? did this surprise you? >> i really can't say that it was because, you know, they had kind of behavior that way all along. they are certainly not terribly worried. they're not worried enough to change the rhetoric when something is pointed out to them. and in speed do you mean the romney campaign's we? campaign's? >> now. >> [inaudible] >> this is -- my take on this, i'm in the context of that question and answer was actually they were saying that this is the most effective ad, and john of abc said that got four pinocchios, so the response as well, we are not going to let ou

you have mitt romney, new gingrich and rick santorum agree enthusiastically we need immigration reform to attract more high skilled immigrants and they kept asking what about the border? literally they were having a little conversation about the bill, and then it was completely ignored because that doesn't sound like a border of sense to me. then mitt romney gave a speech about immigration reform that was oriented of facilitating the family unification and also for skilled visas etc. this is a marginal issue yet interestingly in the most recent years that we have data, you have more immigration, more skilled immigration than less skilled and also more presentation from asia than latin america. that doesn't mean any kind of change and it doesn't mean that mitt romney isn't doing well with the voters, yet it is also true that the immigration the date is framed in some ways and framed and others, it's important to keep in mind particularly as the composition of the population changes. i guess i see these questions are differently in that i see the emergence strategies versus the deliberat

whichever republican including mitt romney wants him to do. so why was newt gingrich at todd akin's side today urging him to stay in. newt can't stop making trouble for mitt. that's coming up. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. keys, keys, keys, keys, keys. ♪ well, he's not very handsome ♪ to look at [ sighs ] ♪ oh, he's shaggy ♪ and he eats like a hog [ male announcer ] the volkswagen jetta. available with advanced keyless technology. control everything from your pocket, purse, or wherever. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ that dirty, old egg-suckin' dog ♪ so it can feel like you're using nothing at all. but neosporin® eczema essentials™ is different. its multi-action formula restores visibly healthier skin in 3 days. neosporin® eczema essentials™. >>> mitt romney's latest idea for medical care for the uninsured puts him in conflict with mitt romney. mit

, former speaker newt gingrich. he's going to be with us onset. also senator mccaskill whose opponent last night said she just wasn't lady like enough. boy, that will help you with the swing voters in missouri. also former white house secretary dee dee myers and nbc news political director and soon to be former miami hurricanes fan chuck todd. up next "political playbook" and don't miss willie's week in review. it will make your weekend in three minutes. first bill karins with a check of the weekend forecast. >> it's going to be a little transition, joe. we're watching rain moving through areas of new england and the mid-atlantic this morning making for a messy, slow morning commute especially in new england. then we'll slowly clear it out for much of the weekend. look at the radar this morning. this is a large covering shield of rain from the hudson valley of new york down through massachusetts, connecticut and pushing into areas of new hampshire. so it's going to be a wet morning for the kids at the bus stop and everyone else heading to work this morning. philadelphia south wards to d.c.

gingrich on the other hand as well. you're not probably going to see a lot of ticket splitters in the state. this is an important state for romney, it's an important state for obama, but claire has definitely got a tough race ahead of last word on the missouri senate race tonight. thanks for joining me, karen. >> thanks, lawrence. >> tomorrow night here on the last word exclusive, missouri senator claire mccaskill will be with us on that missouri senate race. "the ed show" is up next. >>> good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 43 days until the 2012 election. only nine days until the first presidential debate. mitt romney thinks it's fair to pay a smaller tax rate than americans who earn $50,000 a year? you like that? the obama campaign is hammering back. this is getting good. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> what's your big idea? >> freedom. >> now we know. mitt romney loves freedom and he loves his low tax rate. >> so you think it is fair? >> yeah, i think it's the right way to encourage economic growth. >> tonight, richard wolf on mitt romn

ramping up aggressively. last week, for example, here was newt gingrich going all out with it. if you want to make a racial reference bingo card from the '70s, the terms are basketball, performer, the word rhythm, and you'll want a special box for references to the president as sleepy or lazy. >> i'm assuming that some rhythm to barack obama that the rest of us don't understand. whether he needs large amounts of rest, whether he needs to go play basketball for awhile. i don't watch espn. i don't know what his rhythms are, but this is a guy who is a brilliant performer who may well get reelected at the present date. and who frankly happens to be a partial part-time president. he really is like e the substitute referees in the sense that he's not a real president. he doesn't do things presidents do. he doesn't worry about things presidents do. but he has the white house. he has enormous power. he'll go down in history as president. and i suspect he's contemptuous of the the rest of us. >> that's newt gingrich saying he's not a real president. and also he's lazy and has rhythm. newt ging